New Midi Script plugin......

[Dewdman42]

There is a new midi scripting plugin out that some here might find interesting.  This would be as an alternative to Scripter, with some pros and cons I will list below, but one advantage is that this will run in any DAW (including LogicPro)

https://kushview.net/element/

Some of you probably have heard of this tool, and on the surface it doesn't look related to Scripting, but the soon to be release version 1.0.0 has a Lua Script module built in..  

I am just embarking on an exploration to learn it, I will be converting some of my Scripter javascript scripts into lua for starters...  This has actually been built into Kushview Element for a number of years in extreme beta form but was not really ready, but Kushview is finally about to soon release a 1.0 version of Element, and he polished off the lua scripting such that it may become a prominent feature.  I intend to push it fully but I know the author is very committed to Lua Scripting becoming a major part of KushView Element rolling forward.

Pros

• Can script both midi and audio
• Provides script control of not only the audio/midi stream, but also some Kushview element features.
• Provides extensive UI capabilities, apparently in the future some of Element's own GUI will be based on lua also.  But it will be possible to make fairly extensive scripts with fairly rich UI elements.
• Because its built into Element, you can chain together more than one script and chain it together with one or more instruments, etc..

Cons (compared to scripter)

• No direct access to articulationID or LogicPro's AU3 ports
• Lua?  Well I don't know Lua yet, I think I like javascript, but who knows maybe lua will grow on me.
• It will be possible to use parameter automation like is the case with Scripter, but since its indirect it will require mapping parameters and even I'm not sure if the parameter names will show up in LogicPro as nicely, but we shall see.  
• Processing midi is slightly more complicated then Scripter, but not much.  Scripter is just remarkably easy in comparison for super simple scripts due to the HandleMIDI function.  This one will require you to look the whole process block buffer and loop through all the midi events to do whatever...its just a few lines of code, but some people will find it a little bit more complicated that way.
• Can't host LogicPro built in instruments inside Kushview.

Well anyway, in order to try it now, you have to download and build Kushview Element yourself, its not published yet and I have a feeling the final release of 1.0.0 will not be free or cheap like it has been for years but we'll see.  But it's still open source and you can always build it for free, including the very latest code which is nearing release.  If you wanna build it yourself, go here: https://gitlab.com/kushview/element

 

[David Nahmani]

Thanks a lot for the comparison, very useful. 

1 hour ago, Dewdman42 said:

Can script both midi and audio

That's very interesting. How does this work in Logic Pro? Is that plug-in inserted as an Audio FX plug-in? 

1 hour ago, Dewdman42 said:

But it will be possible to make fairly extensive scripts with fairly rich UI elements.

Very interesting also. The Scripter plug-in is pretty limited in that department.

1 hour ago, Dewdman42 said:

you can chain together more than one script and chain it together with one or more instruments

Can you use one script to control different software instrument plug-ins on different tracks in Logic? 

[Dewdman42]

32 minutes ago, David Nahmani said:

That's very interesting. How does this work in Logic Pro? Is that plug-in inserted as an Audio FX plug-in? 

Kushview Element can run as AUfx, AUinst, or AUmfx.. So yea when its running as an instrument or FX, it has access to audio input and output ports...and basically you can write code to manipulate the audio buffer just like any audio plugin...but using Lua.. It comes with a couple ultra simple examples like a little amp plugin.. But basically you could do little audio things, like the fade out we were talking about earlier...except with audio, for example..   Audio DSP is not something I know anything about but there are a lot of simple algorithms for some basic tasks.. Or you could literally write a complex audio plugin if you wanted.

32 minutes ago, David Nahmani said:

Very interesting also. The Scripter plug-in is pretty limited in that department.

Yes.  For GUI this will be way better then Scripter, presuming it works knock on wood.

 

32 minutes ago, David Nahmani said:

Can you use one script to control different software instrument plug-ins on different tracks in Logic? 

No, that is same limitation as scripter, its being hosted inside a channel strip, which is a sandbox.  There is no way in LogicPro to pipe the output from plugins in a channel strip, over to another track or channel trip.  Doesn't matter if its Scripter or any other plugin.

However it is definitely worth mentioning that Kushview Element does include a midi port module, in other words you can cable up the output from an an instrument or script inside there and send it to IAC directly.  We can already do that with LogicPro's external instrument, but what is useful about this is you can do so without having to use up the instrument slot to host the external instrument.  you could have the script and the audio instrument output and still pipe the midi out to IAC to get to another track.